80 



the main problem of their lives. We all know how the female 

 bird, when flushed from the nest, will flutter away, hobbling as 

 though disabled and an easy prey until the pursuer is at a rea- 

 sonable distance from the nest, when she will suddenly take 

 wing and fly away to a safe retreat. It is easy to see what valu- 

 able services both mimicry and ventriloquism might be to them 

 in avoiding and misleading their enemies, and it is not unreason- 

 able to believe that in future ages these habits may become so 

 general as to constitute a prominent feature in the bird's method 

 of protection. 



